I usually wash my hunting clothing at this time of year so that I can hang them outside to dry in my cedar hedge and keep any non natural scent to a minimum before I store them in air tight containers. I'm just concerned about residue scent in my washing machine.
We washed thousands of loads using tide and I think the washing drum and agitator must have tide perfume scent all over it. If I wash my clothing with scent free hunters soap the drum will still have reside from the previous tide washes.
Does anyone have a tip for removing the tide perfume from the washer before I use it or do you wash your hunting clothing by hand in a sink or ?????
I now what you mean , run 2 loads (hot) empty with just a box of bakeing soda in it for each load, that neutralizes the soap sent But I still wash all my sent lock stuff by hand GREYWOLF
I usually dont wash any hunting clothes unless they are covered in blood or stink of heavy body odour from lots of sweat in warm weather hunts.
If I must wash them I use hand wash method only with no scent cleaners.
Then hang dry in pine tree's or cedar tree's is very good.
Phoenix - 375 gr. BEE's (babyneilsons)
Micro 315 - 410 gr. Zombies/Lumenoks
Micro 355. - Punisher-Zombies/Lumenoks
Heck, Particle, when I'm sitting in my tree stand just waiting and relaxing, I think about the good times fishing.
So, just to be fair, when I'm trolling and nothing is biting, I think about hunting. In fact, I put my hunting clothes in a loose weave bag and drag it behind the boat. No more soap smell!
(Just kidding)
"Gun Control Laws"--trying to nag criminals into submission.
Baking soda will do the job. You know the one with the cow on it.
If needed, do a couple of empty loads using baking soda then do one with your hunting clothes in it using some baking soda.
My hunting apparel is water proof. When I've washed it this way it takes approx. 2 days to dry on the clothes line. I would not recommend drying the clothes in the dryer.
Anyhow, I too avoid washing it unless the outfit is very dirty or blood stained. It is best to just brush the clothes thoroughly with a clean medium-stiff brush to remove any dirt and ensure it's reasonnably clean.
Afterwards, lay your colthes on cedar or evergreen branches of nearby trees for the day. Remove them from this location before it gets colder at night so they don't get wet from the morning due. Be careful to store the clothes in a plastic bag, preferably include cedar blocks or cedar branches in your plastic bag.
Repeat this process till you've smelled your clothes with your own nose and you are satisfied with the smell condition.
The scent of your hunting clothes, as well as your own body odor, coupled with an awarness of wind intensity and direction are not to be overlooked. On the contrary, they are important factors that impact a hunter's success percentages.
I leave you with this:
Despite our ignorance and insensitivity to the olfactory environment, to the whitetail deer, it represents a major form of language, a language of silent communication, a language of chemical communication. Neglecting the overwhelming advantage of a deer's nose, will most likely garantee that a hunter will spend alot of his hunting time....alone in the deer woods.
I wash my hunting clothes every chance I get. Maybe that's why I shoots so many deer. They smell you guys up north and come running down here. Thanks LOL
Are you suposed to wash them????? And all this time I had my wife thinking I had to repalce them every year or sooner. You gents sure know how to hurt a guy....
Shoot straight and know your target.
To good hunting and good friends!!
Rickey
I try to wash my camo shirts/pants aleast every 2-4 times I wear them. Sometimes I don't wash my Jackets as much, but I try to hang everything outdoors to dry and release orders. I normally use the camo unscented soap you buy at The store. When entering the woods I always rub my camo,shoes,and anything else I am carrying with fresh ceder branches(lots of ceder trees here). This makes me smell like a gaint ceder tree and I really have not had any deer I have seen smell me the last two years and I hunt on the ground alot. I use to buy everything from carbon spray to scent of fall. I think I am better off just washing my camos and using ceder. The only scent I buy is Skunk scent and only use a few drops of it as it really sticks bad, but I know nothing will smell me with a wall of skunk scent going down wind.
Washing your hunting clothes, IME, does nothing to make you easier to detect to a deer. Washing in one of the UV removers like "Sport Wash" probably doesn't hurt. I think "scent block" parephenalia is the 2nd biggest hoax ever perpetrated on outdoorsman... right behind Gore-tex Wash your clothes & take a shower, your hunting partners will thank you & so will your dog. You'll kill just as many deer, too.
Greg
The big concern with commonly used detergents isn't only the smell. The other problem is that these household detergents have brighteners in them that will actually give your clothing a "shine" visible to deer.
As for washing, I wash my outside apparel (jacket and overpants) only once a year, but use scent neutralising spray every time out. It's amazing how it really removes any smell. (Clothes worn next to the skin get washed more regularly. Underwear and socks daily. )
Unless you don't sweat and keep your clothes outside or bagged during the entire hunting season, washing them only makes you feel good because by the time you get to your hunting spot, you'll still stink to them! I found it very unpractical to continuously fool around with my clothing this way (bagging and hanging outside) and that is why I find the scent neutraliser spray a more practical alternative.
I now what you mean , run 2 loads (hot) empty with just a box of bakeing soda in it for each load, that neutralizes the soap sent But I still wash all my sent lock stuff by hand GREYWOLF
